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Monday, January 31, 2011

Please welcome the fabulous Cara Elliott, author of "To Tempt A Rake" here today as she answers a question that many of us ponder, especially with Valentine's Day approaching. Take it away Cara....

Romance today vs. romance in the past. Is romance still alive?

Oh, I think romance is definitely alive today! I know, I know, a lot of people think the idea has lost its allure, but I beg to differ. No matter where you are, just look around and you’ll see couples going through the age-old rites of holding hands or canoodling in a quiet corner. Laughing, flirting, sharing secrets crushes with a best friend—I’ll bet you things haven’t changed all that much over the years.

I write books set in Regency England, so I have lots of Jane Austen-type of scenes, involving glittering balls, fancy dresses, and dashing Mr. Darcys. It’s fun to create a fantasy world, with elegant parties and sumptuous country houses. I love to do research and discover all the little details of everyday life in the early 19th century. But the most important thing I’ve learned from reading diaries and first-person accounts from the era is that even though the clothing and the society was very different from that of today, the emotions, the needs, and the yearnings were just the same.

Love and courtship has always been a fundamental part life throughout the ages. It simply takes on a different spin through the different time periods. Whether we wear silk ballgowns and satin slippers, or skinny jeans and Doc Marten boots, we all want to be swept off our feet and fall madly in love. How that happens is infinitely unique, and infinitely romantic!

The Lady herself - Cara Elliott

(BIO from the Hachette site)

I started creating books at the age of five, or so my mother tells me. And she has the proof — a neatly penciled story, the pages lavishly illustrated with full color crayon drawings of horses and bound with staples — to back up her claim. I have since moved on from Westerns to writing about Regency England, a time and place that has captured my imagination ever since I opened the covers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

I have a BA and an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and now work as the creative director of a lifestyle sporting magazine, a job which lets me combine my love of the printed word with my love of art. I’m very fortunate in that my work allows me to travel to interesting destinations around the world — however, my favorite spot is London, where the funky antique markets and used book stores offer a wealth of inspiration for my stories.

Cara, thank you for taking the time to visit and share this enjoyable post.

To learn more about Cara and her fantastic Circle of Sin series, check out these links:

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